I don't want to complain, but...

This morning I was at the doctor's office. It was an ob/gyn and it was very busy, of course! There was a woman there who was probably 7 or 8 months pregnant and she had her daughter with her, who appeared to be about 3 or 4 years old. This little girl was very intelligent and very well spoken. When there were no other children around, she enganged in very imaginative play. I was in the waiting room for about 40 minutes and I watched the mother completely ignore her daughter except to tell her to come eat some sandwich (this was 10am she called it her breakfast). This child was hovering near the door waiting to ambush a "new playmate" as soon as she came in the door. One child came in and played with her right away, another was intimidated by the little girl and ran to her mother. Then a woman brought a baby in a stroller (he was 6mos) and she ran over to him, kissed him and grabbed his hand. The mother of the baby had to ask her to stop. Meanwhile, the mother never looked up from her book! This child had full run of the small waiting room the entire time I was there. She had toys spread out throughout the room, throwing a ball up to the ceiling repeatedly, and talking very loudly.

Now, I don't dislike children, I do have two of my own. My children are not perfect, by any means, but, I do not let them be disruptive in a small area, bother others or basically ignore them in a public place.

This isn't an isolated incident. I have observed this attitude more and more often. Have parents gotten to the point that in order to not crush their child's ego, they won't discipline them at all? Or have we become so politically correct that we can't even correct our child's behavior?

I was disciplined excessively by a woman who was mentally ill. It is very hard to raise children when I didn't have a role model to mirror. At times I was afraid to discipline my children because I was afraid I would not be able to stop. As my children have gotten older, I have become more confident in my parenting skills. I am aware of the mistakes that were made with me and I can respond to my children without violence. Not without yelling, tho... I am human after all :)

But I digress... did I miss the memo that said that kids have full run of the world and we don't have to parent them anymore? If this is true, stop the planet because I want to get off!